T4 Box 52 — Pension adjustment (PA)
The dollar value the CRA uses to reduce your RRSP contribution room next year when you belong to an employer pension plan.
At a glance — Box 52
- Box name
- Pension adjustment (PA)
- T1 line
- Not reported on T1 directly
- Check against
- Usually matches CRA MyAccount RRSP limit notice for the following year.
What Box 52 means
Box 52 shows your Pension Adjustment for the year. It represents the estimated value of retirement benefits you accrued through your employer's RPP or DPSP. The CRA subtracts this from your earned income to determine RRSP room.
Typical examples: a defined-benefit pension with a $5,000 PA reduces your next year's RRSP room by $5,000 compared with someone at the same salary with no pension.
If you leave the plan, a later Past Service Pension Adjustment (PSPA) may affect RRSP room retroactively.
Tax return implications
- Not reported on the T1 directly — used by CRA to compute next year's RRSP deduction limit.
- Shows on the Notice of Assessment and in CRA MyAccount as part of your RRSP deduction limit statement.
Related T4 boxes
Box 20 — Registered Pension Plan (RPP) contributions
Contributions you made to a registered pension plan through payroll deduction — fully deductible against employment income.
Box 14 — Employment income
Your total gross employment income for the year before any deductions — salary, wages, bonuses, commissions, taxable benefits and most other pay.
Box 16 — Employee's CPP contributions
The total CPP (Canada Pension Plan) contributions deducted from your pay during the year — base plus enhancement rate applied to pensionable earnings between the basic exemption and the YMPE.
Box 16A — Employee's second CPP contributions (CPP2)
CPP2 contributions on pensionable earnings between the YMPE and the YAMPE — introduced in 2024 for higher earners, at a flat rate specified in the CRA CPP enhancement schedule.
Filing your return? Use the payroll deductions calculator to verify the amounts on your T4 match expected CPP, EI and income tax withholdings, and the income tax calculator to estimate your refund or balance owing.
Sources
T4 box definitions from CRA T4 employer guide. Rates and thresholds current for 2025; file your 2025 T1 by April 30, 2026 (self-employed June 15).